RIVERWOODS POEMS: THE AGING BRAIN

THE AGING BRAIN

I don’t recall your face

And yet you know my name:

This is a frequent lapse

In my senescent brain.

A “stranger” smiles at me

And waits expectantly.

What will my answer be?

I smile effusively.

Or I will make two dates

For the same calendar hour

When a single destination

Is all that’s in my power.

Or the “crossword” that I know

May still remain a blank,

So tantalizingly close

Outside my memory bank.

I fear the day will come

When I forget my name,

Forget to return home

Because I’ve lost my way.

But I will brightly smile

And answer eagerly,

Remembering all the while

That once you smiled at me.